Editorial: Congress gets its Obamacare break

What about everyone else?

This artwork by Jennifer Kohnke relates to Obamacare. (Jennifer Kohnke)

To the ranks of those who will get a break from the rules of Obamacare you can add ... members of Congress and more than 10,000 of their staffers.

Bowing to complaints from the Capitol Hill crowd, the Obama administration on Wednesday announced that members and staffers will keep the generous subsidies they currently receive through the federal health insurance program. Under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, many of them would have had to pay much more as they shifted to buying insurance through one of the new exchanges being created.

Congress justified its special deal because lawmakers apparently forgot to include a provision that allowed their subsidies to be paid when they and their staffs were shifted into the marketplaces. They needed White House help — and President Barack Obama's personal intervention — to bail themselves out of their own mess. Is there any better example of a sloppily written law?

So the carve-outs are growing.

America's businesses have been excused for one year from the requirement that they provide coverage for employees or pay a fine.

Capitol Hill keeps its subsidies.

Who'll be next to get special treatment? We know who should be: Everyone else. Remember, most Americans are still on the hook to pay a penalty if they don't have insurance coverage next year. That's the Obamacare "individual mandate."

But since companies don't even have to report whether they offer employees insurance or who accepts coverage, the individual mandate can't be fairly enforced.

How about we all agree on a simple principle: As long as employers get a pass from their mandate, all individuals should get a pass from their mandate.

More special pleaders for exceptions and exemptions wait in the wings. Union leaders are howling that Obamacare's so-called "Cadillac tax" will jeopardize their members' lavish health benefits under multi-employer plans. Cities could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes if they can't find a way to cut their pricey plans. The "Cadillac tax" will cost New York City $549 million in 2022, The New York Times reports. So expect entreaties for a break to come from assorted mayors.

Underlying all these little uncertainties is one big uncertainty: Will the vast record-keeping apparatus for Obamacare be ready on time?

The government is far behind schedule in testing security for a computer system that will route tax information and other data between federal agencies and the health care exchanges that are being established in the states. Federal officials won't make the decision on the system's readiness until Sept. 30, one day before the exchanges are supposed to open, according to the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general. One day.

The pressure is building on lawmakers and the administration to acknowledge the obvious: This enormous government intrusion into health care is not ready to roll and probably never will be.